U.K. debt initiative benefits Belize

There is more good news for the Government of Belize tonight, this time in the form of debt relief, courtesy of the United Kingdom. The U.K. government announced today that under its ongoing Commonwealth Debt Initiative, one point five million pounds–roughly five million Belize dollars–of debt due for repayment in 2003-2004 will be written off and instead spent on poverty reduction in Belize. According to the British High Commission in Belmopan, the money, which had been paid into an escrow account when it became due, will now be released back to the Belize Government. The specific poverty reduction projects have not yet been finalised. Under the terms of the C.D.I., Belize is eligible for full forgiveness of all U.K. aid loans made between 1981 and 1989, an amount totalling over twenty-two million pounds.